One of my friends wrote on her blog today that she was excited to have eaten a deliciously large peanut butter cookie. Yum! She then went on to say that she’d need to spend a few extra hours at the gym that night, and that she felt disgusting for having eaten the entire cookie herself.
Ladies, you’re allowed to “splurge!” In fact, you don’t even need to think of it as a splurge. You want a cupcake? Have a cupcake! Craving some carrots? Great! Whether you want something “healthy” or “unhealthy,” I’m a fan of giving your body what it’s telling you it needs or wants. Now more than ever I’ve learned that developing a healthy relationship with food is crucial.
I’ve never been a dieter. I tried the South Beach Diet for two weeks the first summer I was home from college. My parents were doing it at the time with phenomenal results. It wasn’t for me though. Never in my life have I been more miserable than I was for those two weeks. I don’t really like eggs, but I forced them down for breakfast. And I hate salad, yet every day I sat down to scraps of lettuce for lunch. I was not a nice girl during this time! Sure I dropped like something like 12 pounds, but I hated how I was living. Being “skinny” wasn’t worth sacrificing my happiness like that.
Today, I’m sure plenty of nutritionists could find things to critique about my daily intake. (Imaginary Nutritionist, that piece of chocolate cake I had today at the office was delicious, and no I do not regret it, thank you very much!) But I give my body what it wants. Luckily, most of the time it wants tasty, healthy meals and snacks. Baby carrots have been a favorite food of mine for as long as I can remember.
I’m also a chocolate lover though, so I treat myself to some sort of chocolate every day. Whether it’s a microwaved Larabar (If you haven’t tried this yet, what are you waiting for? Put it in a bowl, microwave for 30 seconds, then eat with a spoon. Heaven.), a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips (bonus if you’ve kept them in the freezer) or a full on bowl of ice cream, I enjoy every bite.
All that being said, I don’t think you should feel guilty about what you eat. Food is substance. It’s fuel. It’s not something that’s “good” or “bad.” I also don’t recommend you skip over to KFC and order that vile-looking Double Down sandwich they’ve invented, but that can be a topic for another day.
To recap my day: It was a great one! Work was productive, then it was off to spinning. I love Matt’s class at Crunch—he’s so encouraging and has the best music. Then I met ABS (yes, I showered first…quickly!) for an Italian dinner at one of our faves, Don Giovanni in Midtown West. We got bruschetta to start then I had spaghetti and he got stuffed shells. Delish!
And now ABS is here eating a pint of Ben & Jerry’s peanut butter cup ice cream. Time to go join him! (If he’ll so graciously share… He told me earlier that I “always pick out all the good cups.” How rude!)
Coming up: A advice-y blog on how I stay motivated to work out. I find that Wednesdays are notoriously difficult when it comes to finding the energy to exercise. But I’ve got some tips for how to make it happen.
DISCUSS: Do you ever feel guilty for indulging in certain foods? Why or why not? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
